Museum of London - Medieval area

My exploration of the Museum of London continued this year with the Medieval room. We managed to catch a free tour of the highlights of this room. It was informative. Look for tickets to these free tours at the front desk. The tour topics vary from day to day, hour to hour. 

The medieval room covers the time period of 410 AD through 1558 (when Queen Elizabeth I started her reign). The Romans started to neglect London. The Anglo Saxons from Germany came over and settled in areas west and southeast of London in 410 AD. The area west of London became known as "Lundenwic" and was established in 750 AD. This was near the current Royal Opera House. In this community craft workers set up shop and made objects of metal and bone. Kings from East Saxon ruled here, followed by rulers of the kingdom of Mercia who controlled a large portion of central England.

In 871 AD Anglo Saxon King Alfred came to power. He controlled the area of London inside the Roman city walls, called "Lundenburg". He reigned until 899 AD. He was continually fending off invasions by Danish Vikings. The Danes kept on invading and ruling parts of England until 1042 AD when King Edward the Confessor came along to rule. The area in northeast England where the Danes ruled was called "Danelaw". 

Here is a photo of Danish Viking weapons that were found in the River Thames in the London area.

Edward the Confessor, the next to last Anglo Saxon King, reigned from 1042-1066. He was followed briefly by Harold II (or Harold Godwinson), the true last Anglo Saxon king who reigned from January through October 1066. Norman invasions from France followed and led to the rule of William I (aka my ancestor William the Conqueror). 

Some Normans came to settle in England during the time of William the Conqueror. There was a fair amount of trade going on between France and England. Among the immigrants to England from France were Jewish people. They typically lived west of London.  Several times during the 12th and 13th century London Jewish citizens were attacked by other citizens in London.  One example was in 1189 AD at the time of King Richard I's coronation. He tried to stop the attacks, but was not very effective.

 

The following is a picture of a Jewish sabbath lamp from the 1100s AD. It would have been lit on the eve of the sabbath in a family's home.

Here are some other photos from the medieval room at the museum.

This is an oak retaining wall from 1220 AD to keep the River Thames from spilling its banks in London.

As you can imagine, wooden walls like these had to be replaced often. Only centuries later were they replaced by stone walls.

Pilgrimages were a popular activity in medieval London in the 13th and 14th centuries. A frequent destination was Canterbury, where Thomas Beckett was archibishop and later canonized after his murder.  Pilgrims would bring back souvenirs, such as this ampule filled with holy water tinged with Beckett's blood. Eww! The profile of Beckett's head was on this ampule.

The following is a model of St. Paul's Cathedral in London. There has been a church on this site since the 7th century. It burned down in the fire of 1666. This model shows the Norman style of architecture on the left side (more rounded style) from around 1241 AD and the gothic style of architecture on the right side (more pointed style) from around 1320 AD. 

A video presentation about the Black Death (1346-1353 AD) mentioned that this plague left 40,000 people dead in England.  For those who survived it, the meaning of life was often questioned (or not - as seen by the commentary in the photo below). 

Ever wonder what a gauntlet looks like, from the expression "to throw down the gauntlet" (challenge a person to a duel)? Here is one from the 1550s AD. This armour was often made partly of mercury.

There are very few remains left of a once splendid castle in Surrey, England called "Nonsuch Palace". 

It was built for King Henry VIII in commemoration of his 30th year of reign and the birth of his son, later Edward VI. Construction started in 1538. It was quite elaborate with courtyards and towers and was meant to rival Francis I's castle in France. The palace cost at least 24,000 GBP. The name "Nonsuch" 

was referring to the boast that no such palace could equal it in its magnificence.

Here is a sketch of what it looked like.

Part of a stucco panel of a Roman soldier survived from the southwest tower. It is in this museum.

The palace was incomplete when Henry VIII died in 1547. It was in and out of royal hands after his death. King Edward VI and Queen Mary had it. Then it was sold to nobles. In 1660 it returned to the royal family until 1670 when Charles II gave it to his mistress Barbara, Countess of Castlemaine.  She had a big gambling debt. She sold off the grounds and pulled down the palace, selling bit by bit to pay off her debts. Some parts of the castle were recycled and used in other buildings.  It is a shame that the palace did not survive.

Another highlight in the medieval room is part of a tryptich panel from a chapel in Westminster Abbey. It dates back to around 1500 and shows the annunciation with the angel Gabriel and the Virgin Mary. The panels here are the outer wings. The middle panel is missing.

These are some of the highlights from the medieval room in the Museum of London, close to the Barbican. More blog posts will follow as I make my way through the rest of the museum.